Harry Potter gets mixed reviews as media rush to beat the bloggers

THERE is a war in the world of film reviewing as leading trade magazines broke the traditional film industry embargo on publishing reviews early, and jumped the gun with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The critics of Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter put their appraisals of the fifth Harry Potter movie on the web last Monday. This is well in advance of the July 8 date the studios demanded reviews wouldn’t appear until.

And the verdict? Well, mixed is the fairest way to describe it.